Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Tehran to export gas to Europe via Turkey

UPI Energy Watch: Iranian said it wants to export natural gas to Europe via neighboring Turkey. Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, Iranian oil minister, said last week the two sides will continue to hold talks to assess options on how best to make this possible.

"During this visit, Iran's gas export projects through Turkey were clarified and will soon be finalized," local media reports quoted him as saying Friday. "It was planned to increase the capacity of Iran's pipeline, which is connected to the Turkish pipeline, and export gas to Europe jointly with Turkey."

Neither side mentioned when exports would begin.

Turkey buys Iranian gas, which is carried through a pipeline from the northwestern city of Tabriz to Ankara.

"There are three options to export gas from Iran to Europe via Turkey, of which, Nabucco Project (Turkey-Austria) and the existing pipe are still on the agenda," Vaziri-Hamaneh said.

Iran anticipates that some 90 of Nabucco's available capacity will be assigned for its gas.